Border Trade: Pakistan-Iran Cargo Flow Resumes with Delays

Trucks are moving again across the Pakistan-Iran border, ending a nine-day suspension that disrupted fuel supplies and goods. The flow, however, remains partial. While some cargo cleared customs on Monday, Iranian officials say new paperwork requirements are still blocking many shipments from leaving Iran.

The Pakistani government halted cargo traffic through the Gabd-Rimdan and Taftan crossings in Balochistan province on October 17. Officials cited security risks in the region. By the weekend, Mir Naveed Jan Kalmati, president of the Gwadar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that trade had partially resumed. Pakistani exports, including rice, bananas, and potatoes, began crossing into Iran. Trucks loaded in Iran before the closure, such as those carrying liquefied petroleum gas, also started entering Pakistan, according to Haji Noor Muhammad Shahwani, central president of the Balochistan Goods Truck Owners Association.

A dispute over electronic forms is complicating the process. Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, posted on X on Sunday that changes to the E-Form procedure for imports are preventing traders from dispatching cargo. He stated that Iran had placed no restrictions on its own exports. A memorandum from Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce, dated October 16, withdrew a previous waiver for this form, effective immediately. The form records imports and ensures payment through banks. Shahwani suggested the delay might be related to banking issues in international trade. He noted that hundreds of LPG trucks had crossed into the Gabd area but were not yet unloaded or cleared.

Security concerns in Balochistan provided the initial justification for the halt. Gunmen attacked trucks waiting near the Gabd crossing on Thursday. The military reported killing 10 attackers in operations around Gabd and Gwadar city, with one civilian also dying. Balochistan accounted for 131 of the 225 armed attacks recorded nationwide in September, the highest monthly total in 12 years, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. Bakhtiar Ismail, deputy commissioner of Chagai, described the closure as a temporary measure to improve border management and support counterterrorism efforts.

Analysts and officials point to the wider geopolitical context. Pakistan has mediated between Washington and Tehran since the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28. The United States has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and wide-ranging economic sanctions. Imtiaz Baloch, a security analyst, said US maximum pressure policy likely influenced the closure, either directly or through banking channels. He noted that no concrete statement had linked the closure to US policy. Pakistan’s foreign ministerial spokesman, Sajjad Haider Khan, said the country would adhere to applicable sanctions regimes. He did not confirm whether the US had pressured Pakistan over the closure. The Ministry of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment.

Rizwan Ahmed, a customs clearing agent near the Gabd-Rimdan crossing, said customs told agents to file declarations for stranded trucks. He described his own export of rice and retail goods leaving the border. Customs reportedly told agents to bring in as much cargo as possible. Whether this instruction applied to goods loaded after October 16 remains unclear. The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited technical issues for the delays. Consultations between the two countries are currently underway to resolve the administrative hurdles.